Even though no one had lived here or tended the place for years, the courtyard walls had not collapsed, which showed that care had gone into their construction.
This was East Street in the provincial capital, after all, unquestionably one of its bustling districts.
Shops stood shoulder to shoulder across the street and all around the Mei Residence.
Only the Mei Residence stood alone here. Apart from an old gate, its entire frontage consisted of walls, making it quite out of place among its surroundings.
"Master, we've struck it rich," Qiao Xiao said with a smile.
"What makes you say that?" Tang Wen asked.
"Look, this estate is enormous, and it's in a bustling part of the provincial capital. Later, we can knock down these walls and put up dozens of shops. The rent alone would bring in a considerable income," Qiao Xiao said with a smile.
"For all we know, these walls are all that's left, and it's nothing but rubbish inside. We might have spent hundreds of thousands of taels on an empty shell," Tang Wen said.
"Master, let's go inside and take a look first," Luo Yiwu said. The party headed toward the gate.
The gate still bore the seals of Jiangzhou Prefecture, but since the prefecture had already sold the Mei Residence to Tang Wen, Qiao Xiao and Tian Hao went forward to remove them themselves.
With a creak, the two old wooden doors were slowly pushed open, sending a great cloud of dust into their faces.
A path paved with bluestone, a full three meters wide, came into view.
Grass had forced its way through the cracks between the stones, however, and both sides were so overgrown that the place was practically a wilderness of weeds.
Rotting leaves lay a foot deep, giving off a